Tom Storm

Interesting that you raise this. I was going to say earlier that for me, gratitude feels like an indebtedness to a mystery for this fragile state of g...

I came to this position when I was in my teens. But of course this is just a perspective. There are theists who would argue differently. I think this ...

It's a fair question. My answer would be that various intersubjective communities have their leaders who make those calls, and community members agree...

I agree with most of what you’ve said, and I use AI that way at work all the time. I test ideas and improve my sentences. It helps me get closer to wh...

Fair enough. I tend to think of “reality” as a human construct, a kind of secular version of God, serving as a foundational justification for all our ...

Thank you. Yes, that all sounds understandable. I believe that a deconversion can leave some with a big hole to fill. A lot of former Muslims and Chri...

As an eccentric autodidact, I’d have to agree with this. He’s left out the monomaniac contingent... One issue with doing philosophy is that there are ...

Probably more. The point isn’t their proposed solutions (which generally are of little interest to me), but rather their diagnosis of a problem and th...

That helps a bit. I’ve never found this to be the case. If you’re so bad at maths that you need to devote most of your time to it, you might end up fa...

Yeah, I think those are fairly established criticisms. I don’t have any insights on social media since I’m not on any myself and haven’t seen much of ...

Nice. That's a good line. What worries me is that the view that everything is hopeless is so useful to certain politicians and corporate interests who...

This is vague, An example would be useful. Aren’t many people ambivalent and tentative in their approaches and interactions? Rather than being dualist...

Sounds like you have been taking Iain McGilchrist lessons. :razz: But seriously, this frame seems especially hot again right now and includes both goo...

:up:

I keep trying to agree with this, but I can’t. :wink: The argument assumes that fully understanding an idea is a moral prerequisite for sharing it. Is...

No. I seem to be incapable of believing in any god variations. So 'right one' is not on my radar. It’s probably a matter of disposition. Are you a the...

So where does this leave you? What are your conclusions? I think many of us have seen all of the above and worse. For several decades now, I've argued...

How so? Like the comments presented by baker when arguing? But I think you're trying to argue that when you do it it's philosophical and factual... I ...

I don’t think this is accurate. Isn’t the discourse of power one of the most common topics in Western PC circles? Isn’t that exactly what they’re ofte...

No. But I think you’re asking that because you can’t conceive of how my response could be rational, and so you assume it must belong to the realm of m...

A buddy of mine has installed a plastic tube through his mattress at waist level. This leads to a container under the bed. You guessed it... this mean...

I’m not convinced that’s how it works. You’re not including the ineffable (the sense of the numinous), the importance of which can only be conveyed wi...

I can accept that you were using hyperbole; it just seemed out of context. So you're saying that this thread is about whether it’s morally acceptable ...

Interesting. I wonder then why the job applications written to me are all so terrible, full of clunky locutions that few people would actually use. Ap...

Interesting, I haven’t noticed particularly. But I avoid reading lengthy and didactic posts which are often poorly written. The AI stuff I’ve seen oft...

Well, I’m not convinced that you don’t see orange everywhere. But let's not speak in code; my point is you tend to frame most ideas in a negative ligh...

Oh? Or maybe you see authoritarianism everywhere?

Sorry, the idea doesn't resonate with me. The better preachers I’ve seen make no demands and simply promote contemplative living, in harmony with othe...

But as I said, there are myriad types of preaching. Isn’t it simply meant to awaken others? It’s not necessarily prescriptive or certain. I’ve never e...

Faith and preaching are distinct acts; I don’t see how expressing the latter necessarily betrays the former.

No, I don't think it matters.

I suspect there are as many types of preachers as there are faiths so I don't think we can readily say " the preacher is x". I’ve known my share of pr...

I can't talk to philosophy or religion. Gratitude, for me, is largely ineffable. It’s a blend of feelings; mostly an intuition that things could be ot...

I partake in no religious or philosophical practice, although we all undoubtedly absorb elements of these through culture. I am frequently grateful: f...

I heard pollsters Tony Barry and Kos Samaras speak at a conference I attended the other day. Samaras' view was that the Liberals are doomed for the fo...

Not keen on thought experiments, they seem too abstract and disconnected from real-life situations to be useful to me. Morality, as I understand it, i...

I don’t have a background in philosophy, but I’m wondering on what grounds we would say that we possess intrinsic moral value? What exactly is intrins...

Yes, I think that's fair. I'm unsure what counts as liberalism these days. I always thought it was a bit of a continuum.

Sure. But what’s the best alternative to liberalism? Which countries do you believe operate on pure principles of liberalism, and what should they rep...

Thanks. I read The Magus back in the 1980's and have no memory of it. I'll have another look.

I understand why it feels compelling to say that the universe must have order, because without consistent laws, nothing could exist as we know it. May...

Got ya. The view I have sympathy for at present is that meaning and order are products of our interactions with the world rather than features waiting...

What are the other 4?

You agree with this? I imagine it’s for facilitating survival and attempting to manage our environment. Making the wrong choice can harm or kill us. B...

I don’t have much to add here, but I’ve enjoyed your OP and think you raise some significantly interesting ideas as Banno has summarised. The notion o...

Spain is cheap, that was clear early on. But Australia has some of the most expensive cigarettes in the world. As far as I know, cigarettes cost rough...

Well, that's mostly my position too, for the most part, but more as someone who also has sympathies for pragmatism. But I remain curious and open to m...

American price €8. But it varies from state to state.

Indeed. What’s interesting is the common myth that you need to join a program to quit drinking. The stats suggest that 70–75% of people quit without a...

That's incredibly cheap we would pay around $400 for that amount. €264.